Dangerous Thinking
by Contagious Lust
Summary: He was a mere stable boy, and I, the son of a planation owner. I can't be having these thoughts about him. This dangerous thinking is something that gets people hurt; or killed.
1. The Stable Boy

Dangerous Thinking  
Chapter 1: The Stable Boy  
Characters do not belong to me, though I sometimes I'd like to think they do :)

I couldn't stop staring at him. The way his hair hung down on his face, the way he always seemed to have bits of hay stuck in his hair, the way he always smiled, even after a long day of work. He always had the most charming personality; friendly, kind, and good mannered. Though he could be hard-headed and a bit stubborn at times, he was the most diligent worker in the farm. He loved to take care of the animals in the barn. It was better than working outside in the pouring rain yet hot during the long, summer months when he could finish work and be covered in sweat. Today was one of those days where he wished he could simply leave for a bit to take a drink, but he couldn't. I was watching him from my porch, looking at him as he tried to sneak a drink of water from the bucket he used to give the horses a drink. There wasn't a drop let. He looked disappointed. He wipes the sweat that drips down his scars on cheeks. Three marks on each cheek; a particularly brutal beating where the switch hit his face instead of his back because he turned around. His name was Naruto. His caretakers had found him the corn fields while working. They asked my parents if they could keep him. They agreed, on one condition. He would be a stable boy and work in the stables. They agreed. He came to the house several months after I was born. He was the same age as me; 16. He looks around the rest of the barn, muttering to himself about how there was never enough water. He sees me sitting on the porch and nearly falls over the wheel barrel. "Sorry, sir. I'll get back to work," he says with a surprised voice.

I say nothing to him. He walks back into the barn, filling the horse's sacks with fresh hay and feeding Billy, my horse, a carrot. He walks outside again and goes over to the chicken coop, carrying a sack full of food for them. He puts the back inside first, jumps over the wooden gate, and picks the bag back up. He doesn't notice me get up and walk closer to him, walking down the porch stares into the grass. I could see the beads of sweat on his face as I got closer to him. He puts the bag down and wipes his forehead. He turns around, startled to see me. I smile. He merely stares. "Is there anything I can help you with, sir."

It never made sense to me that he had to call me sir, even though I was only three months older than him. "I'm just watching, if that's ok," I reply, resting my elbows on the wooden fence.

"Not at all, sir." He puts the bag on the other side of the fence and jumps over. He carries the bag back into the barn. Grabbing another bucket full of slop for the pigs, Naruto carries it to the pig pen. He almost falls over the rake. I catch him before he falls completely over and spills the slop. "Thank you, sir," he says.

"It's no trouble."

He smiles and walks out of the barn, walking around the barn to where the pig pen was. "If you don't mind me asking, could you hold this for me so I can get into the pen? The other stable boy is sick right now and it's awful hard to get that over when you're trying not to open the door."

"Why wouldn't you open the door?"

"It's easier for the pigs to escape. They're awful smart and pretty fast. We lost a couple piglets last month because someone left the pen door unlatched." I look at the bucket, rather disgusted with the condition of it. "You won't even be touching the sides. Just the handle, and the handles the cleanest part."

I take the bucket from his hands while he climbs over. He turns back towards me and takes the bucket back, pouring the rather gross-looking food into their food pale and climbing back over the fence. "Thank you, sir."

"You know you don't have to call me sir. I'm only a couple months older than you."

"'Fraid I have to, sir. I'll get in trouble if I don't." He turns around and the color of his face drains. "Morning, miss. Just feeding the animals for the day. I'll get to cleaning your horse before your afternoon ride with your husband."

I turn around. My mother is standing behind me. Her skirt hangs low enough to touch the ground and her long, dark hair is pulled into a bun. "It's all right, Naruto. Don't stress yourself just for me." My mother liked Naruto a lot, ever since his adoptive parents found him and brought him home to the plantation. "Sasuke, your father has been looking for you. He wants to take you and your brother for a hunt tomorrow morning. He wanted to get some practice in."

Sasuke scowls at his mother. He hated hunting; he didn't know why his brother and father loved it so much. All hunting was simply shooting at an innocent animal and hanging it on the study wall in reminder of how well you did. The deer heads was something Sasuke knew his mother wasn't fond of, but she didn't have any authority to tell her husband not to hang them up. The disadvantages of being female. "Please mother, don't make me go hunting again. The last thing I want is a repeat of what happened last time. I don't think father wants to be rushed to the hospital again to remove a bullet from his foot, do you?"

"Please do not argue and go inside. Your father needs to speak to you about something else. I do not need another fight like last night."

Sasuke looks down at his shoes. He and his father were fighting about something almost every night. There wasn't a moment, at least according to him, where his father wasn't disappointed him about something, whether it would be how he always dazed off in class, how he hadn't found a girl to settle down with, or how he hadn't acquired the same tastes that his older brother had. Whatever the case may be, his father never seemed to be satisfied with his younger son. Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets, waved to Naruto, and walked back up towards the house, his mother following behind him. He looks back once at Naruto, who walks back into the barn to start cleaning up his mothers' horse. He didn't ever mention to his mother his habit for staring at him.

:::::

Fugaku was sitting in the study next to the fire place with a glass of whiskey in his hand, staring at the portrait above the mantle. This is how I usually found my father; sitting among the antiques of the study, looking up at the picture of his father with a glass of whiskey in his hands. He looks over at the arch. "Ah Sasuke, there you are. I've been needing to talk to you." He walks over to his son. "Why do you smell like a stable boy?"

I stumble with the words in my head. "I was sitting out near the barn, watching the stable boy work." I bit my lip nervously.

My father eyes me, but simply brushes it off. "You'll need to bathe then. I have some surprising news for you. Take a seat." I knew this was big. Most news, my father would just let me stand. This was either about finding me a potential wife, or about my brother. "I've noticed you haven't found a potential wife yet." I knew this would be coming. "So I've talked to some of the parents in town and have found one for you." I felt my job drop. I didn't know if I was able to blink or not. "She's a lovely girl, a great cook, and has been sewing since she was a young child. Her family is awfully nice too. She might be a bit of a handful, but I'm sure you'll be able to tame her." My mother gave my father a look, knowing what he meant by 'taming her'. "Her name is Sakura. She's coming over for dinner tonight. I would like you to meet her."

I roll my eyes. This wasn't the first time he had tried to set me up with someone, but this was the first time he tried to bring a girl home to meet. Apparently, he was pretty sure this was the girl for me; otherwise, he wouldn't even consider bringing the girl home. "Father, why can't you let me pick the person I want to marry? I don't think I'm even ready to marry just yet. I'm only 16."

My father looks sternly at me. He always gave me this look when I would mention how I wasn't ready to be married. "I was 16 when I married your mother. Your brother is 22 and has a child on the way. Do not say that you aren't ready to be married. I will not have that kind of…radical talk in my house. Do you understand?"

I look away from my father. He always got like this when talking about marriage. I just didn't find myself ready for a wife. I wasn't even sure whether I wanted a wife. Dangerous talk that might be, but it's honest talk and sometimes honesty is dangerous. I never did tell my father or mother what I really thought; I didn't need them to disown me for having such unethical thoughts; thoughts that didn't involve me being with a girl. I pushed that aside. "I'll go bathe and prepare."

"That's my boy," my father said proudly. "I just know you're going to want to marry this girl once you see her."

I smile at my dad and get up to walk upstairs. I didn't want to tell my father that I wasn't looking forward to this at all. In fact, rather the opposite. I walk into my room and sit down on the wooden bed, staring at the window towards the barn. Naruto was cleaning the horse, laughing when Rosie shook her tail and splashed water all over him. "How am I supposed to clean your milady if you are being so uncooperative?"

I smile as I watch him a bit longer. I could hear my mother talking to my father. I knew she was sipping tea as she sat next to him, talking about the other servants who worked in the farm, in the house, or with the animals, like Naruto had. I grab a change of clothes and walk over to the bathroom, dreading what the end of the day would bring.


	2. Meeting the Haruno's

Dangerous Thinking  
Chapter 2: Meeting the Haruno's  
Characters do not belong to me, though sometimes I pretend they do ;)

I tried to avoid my father by any means possible. I didn't want him to know that I was already done with bathing and had decided to sneak my way downstairs and outside back to the stable. I looked around the barn, but he wasn't in sight. I sort of smiled, sort of frowned. I went over to my horse, Billie, and pet his nose. "Hey there boy. You looked about as trapped as I feel."

"You know, he loves carrots and lettuce. You could feed him if you wanted to." I turn around, a bit startled, but rather relieved that it was just Naruto. He hands me a carrot from the bag. "He's probably the one of the five that doesn't make a lot of fuss when I try to clean his hooves."

"He's always been a good horse. My father bought him in North Carolina when he went to visit his brother, Madara." I look down at the hay on the ground again and smile. "Madara is such an amazing person. He lives in a house with his wife and his male partner."

"You're uncle is gay?"

I nod. "He's been disowned by the family, but he doesn't seem to mind at all. He's happy. His wife accepts it, weirdly enough, and even still bears children with him. She considers him her best friend and would do anything to help him out. It's the kind of life I'd like someday. Live near the ocean or just any body of water, wake up and just smell that country air, and live with the person that makes me feel just happy to be alive."

Naruto smiles, wiping some dirt out his cerulean eyes. "Yea I know what you mean. But being a stable boy, true love isn't exactly in the cards for me. I mean sure, it happened to Elizabeth and Mark, but I can't ever imagine it happening to me." Elizabeth and Mark are his parents; the ones who found him in the corn field after trying for many years to have their own child. Naruto looks down at his work boots, brushing off the excess dirt. "Besides, if I did love a person, they'd have to be a servant like me. I can't ever see myself being allowed to love a plantation owner or anyone in high society."

"You would be surprised."

Naruto smiles at me. I smile back. "So, you said I could feed him a carrot?"

"Oh sure. Just make sure you don't get your fingers near his mouth. He can actually bite off your fingers."

I carefully give Billie the carrot, petting his nose. He eats the carrot, looking as happy as a horse possibly could. I look back over at Naruto. He looks back over at me and smiles nervously. "You should probably get back inside. If your father catches you hanging around me again, you'll get into trouble and that's the last thing I need to have happen to you." He blushes slightly, fiddling nervously with the buttons on his dirty shirt.  
"I probably should." I walk up to him. "You should try to work in the house tonight. I could ask my mother if she can get your mother in the house. She'd obviously ask for your help, her hand being injured in all. Plus, it would give my mother a chance to re-bandage her hand up."

"You would do that for me," Naruto asks, smiling his crooked smile I've only ever gotten to see a couple times and loved to see when I had the chance to.

I nod, hearing my mothers' voice calling for me. She had figured out I wasn't in the tub anymore; or in the house for that matter. I walk away, looking back and noticing Naruto still smiling at me. I smile back, waving to him before turning completely around and walking towards my mother. I could feel my stomach fluttering and my heart skipping a beat. At this point, right now my whole world seemed ok.

:::::

Around 4:45, the servants were working hard in the chicken, preparing a meal for us and our dinner guests, the Haruno family. The whole thing was a mess of food, bodies, and different types of alcohol. The alcohol being from my father, who wanted to pick just the right kind that would be tasteful and elegant yet casual. Naruto helped in the kitchen, cleaning up any messes that occurred on the floor or counters. He helped his mother set the table, grab the glasses and set them, and put napkins down on the table. He looked nicer than I had expected him to. His mother had obviously washed her husbands old clothes, dressing Naruto in a clean, white button down shoes, black slacks that were a bit too big for him, and black shoes. He had a special assignment for the evening; pouring the alcohol. For his work on the barn, as my father had put it, he thought Naruto deserved what he thought as the highest honor a stable boy could do. Naruto, in his usual optimistic attitude, was thrilled. He'd never been able to work in the house, let alone work for the owner of the plantation. It felt like being awarded a prize. "Oh Naruto, could you help your mother in the kitchen? Her hand is bothering her again?'

Naruto had been helping my father pick which wine he thought would be a good choice. Surprisingly, Naruto picked one of my fathers' favorite. It was brewed in California, aged a couple years, and had a red color whenever it sloshed around in my fathers' glass. He loved the taste of it and picked it only on the most special occasion. "Hold on dear," my father says to my mother. "I'm teaching this boy about wine and how only the best are brewed. This child is quite the young fellow, isn't he?" He looks over at me and smiles.

I smile back at him, then smile at Naruto. He rolls his eyes, a tiny giggle escaping his mouth. I laugh in response. I knew that Naruto didn't care about the different kinds of wine, but anything to impress the plantation owner was worth the reward he could quite possibly receive, which for him meant leftovers from dinner, a chance to work in the house instead of outside in the cold, or even a night in the house. Whatever reward he received, Naruto was willing to do the work that earned it. A knock was heard at the door. My father looks at the time. "They're here." He gets up from the chair, Naruto walking over to the kitchen to help them do last minute preparations. "Sasuke, come over here."

I walk over and stand in front of my mother and father. My mother rests her hands on my shoulders, my father eagerly shakes me, more excited to meet the girl than I was. The doorman opens the door. The first to walk in was a girl with pink colored hair, jade green eyes, and a slender figure. Her parents, who were rather ordinary looking, followed behind her. "Hello. Welcome to our home. I'm Fugaku. We met at the store and talked about this arrangement. This is my wife, Minato, and the boy you've heard so much about, Sasuke."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," the gentleman says, his moustache tickling his upper lip. He was rather large for a man of his height, his shoulders broad, and his face a bit puffed up but still handsome in it's own characteristics. His wife, on the other hand, was pale, thin, and looked as if embracing her would make her break in your arms. Her hair was light straw as the free pieces that didn't quite make it in the bun dangled against her angular face. How their daughter looked the way she had surprised me. "This is my wife, Ava, and this is my daughter, Sakura."

"Pleased to you meet you," she says, her voice softer than I had expected it to be. She smiles at us as she curtseys.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sakura," I say, trying to be as polite as I could. As pretty as she was, I just felt in the pit of my stomach this night would turn into something else.

"Why don't we all go and sit on the porch," my mother suggests. She turns towards the kitchen and looks at Naruto's mother. "Elizabeth, would you mind having your son bring out the tea?"

"Not at all miss," she says. "I'll prepare some right now. Ginger or jasmine?"

"Jasmine sounds enjoyable. Thank you."

Elizabeth nods her head and retreats to find the tea. I follow my mother out to the front porch. My parents and her parents sit across each other, talking about politics and business. I look around for Sakura. I had to at least attempt to try and be nice to her, even if I had a feeling this wouldn't go very far after tonight. I could see her pink dress standing in the barn. I walk down, noticing her look at the horses. She stops in front of Billie's stall and stares at him. "He won't bite you."

She looks over at me. "He doesn't have the disposition to. He seems kinder than that." She pets his nose, first removing her white gloves off her hands. "My mother makes me wear these ridiculous things every time we go and have dinner. She thinks that men like girls with nicer hands and finds my hands to be quite unattractive. What a sweet woman right?"

"She seems rather nice. She's like my father, always thinking about the suitor and never what I want."

"I know, but I guess they are just trying to care for us and want us to have a person to love and children."

I roll my eyes. It's all my father seemed to expect from me nowadays; to find a woman to spend my life with, bear children, and raise them so one day, they could run the plantation and be a major seller of corn, grains, old wine, leather, and furniture. My father was a wood carver. Much of the money he has earned was from hand-making leather pieces and wooden furniture, like beds and dressers. He had a knack for it, which he has passed on to my brother. "I think our family is calling us for dinner."

Sakura nods her head and walks out of the barn. I follow behind her, noticing that she has taken off her shoes. I found that rather odd, but the way her heals looked when I find them sitting by the front door, I couldn't blame her for not wanting to wear those shoes. She reaches for them before her parents notice and slips them back on her feet, then walks into the house. We follow our family to the table, both her father and mine forcing us to sit next to each other. The servants serve a great meal that was beyond what my father had expected them to do; roast chicken, sweet potatoes, freshly picked corn, and rolls made from scratch. Naruto came around the corner, standing with the wine in his hand. My father turns to him and smiles. "Can I interest anyone in some whine?"

"I'll take some of that. Speaking of another boy who would charm the ladies and would be a perfect suitor, Naruto here is such an amazing young boy. He's our best stable boy and has done such a terrific job, I asked him myself if he wouldn't mind working in the house for a while."

Naruto had to contain his excitement for later. He hadn't been told that he would be able to work in the house for a while. "Thank you sir," he says with a chipper voice, though that could barely describe how he actually felt about the great news. He serves the drink to the adults, Sakura and I choosing water instead. "Do you need anything else," Naruto asks my father.

"I think that will do it. I'll call to you when we are in need of a refill though."

Naruto bows and exit's the room, looking at Sakura before exiting. I hadn't a clue why he decided to look at her.

After a couple glasses of wine and some delicious dessert served by Elizabeth, I could see my father clearly becoming more drunk. He could still hold a steady conversation, but he seemed to struggle with other things. My father could hold alcohol well, but tonight he had obviously let himself get a little carried away. I took Sakura back outside. Her and I sat on the front the porch while our parents sat in the house, conversing with each other. "My father always does this; drinks too much wine so it's easier for him to talk to others. You might not see it now, but he's terrible with conversing when he hasn't had a lick to drink," Sakura reveals.

"My father drinks just to drink," I respond. "He's never been a heavy drinker. The last time he drank this much was at New Years last year. We had invited some family friends over and it got a little carried away."

Sakura smiles. I try not to be rude and smile back. I could see myself becoming friends with her, but I couldn't see it going any farther than that. I clasp my hands together and hold them in my lap, staring at the stars. "Sasuke, it's quite obvious you are not taking an interest in me."

I look at her, rather stunned. Her face doesn't look bothered or hurt. In fact, it looks rather mature and sentimental. I decide it would be ok to tell her. "It's not that I'm not interested. It's just I don't see myself getting married anytime soon. My father is so desperate to push me into marriage because my brother was married at 18 and he was married at 17. I don't know why he wants me to rush into it."

Sakura takes my hand in hers, a gesture that quite surprised me. "Is that the real reason or is it something else?" I look away from her. "I thought so."

"What did you think?"

"It's nothing really. I'll probably be around more often than not because our parents are quickly becoming friends. I might want to go fetch my family though. It's getting rather late."

I walk her inside, holding the door for her. We walk into the kitchen, my father laughing loudly at a joke that we had apparently missed. "I think it's time we ought to get home. The sun has already set and you know that Daisy's eyes are terrible during the night."

"Quite right." Her father stands up from the table, stumbling over his own feet. He catches himself on the wall. "It's been a great meal. We should go riding tomorrow during the afternoon. I'll come by with my horse."

"That sounds lovely, except I was planning on going hunting with my boys. You could join us."

"Splendid. I'll see you at 6:00 tomorrow morning. Good day to you and thank you for such a wonderful meal."

Sakura and her family managed to make it out the door without stumbling too much. My own father remains in his seat. I knew he wanted to ask questions about Sakura, so I merely stood in the archway between the kitchen and the hallway leading to the living room. "So, did you like her?"

"She's a lovely girl, father, but I just don't think I'm in love with her."

"You'll have plenty of chances to fall in love with her. Her parents are wonderful people and I plan to spend as much time with them as I can. It will give you a chance to really get to know their girl."

"I'm just not interested in her."

My father rolls his eyes, standing to his feet. "Nonsense. By the end of November, I could see you growing quite fond of her. Besides, you looked rather comfortable outside with her."

I didn't tell him I was trying to be polite. "I'm not looking for fondness; that wouldn't be a good reason to marry a woman. I would rather be in love with the person than be fond of them."

"Now you're just acting like a child. Sasuke, you are going to marry someday. I won't have you become like my uncle and fall in love with some servant boy like he did. I tell you, I would be downright ashamed if I ever had a son that admitted to me he was in love with a man. That would be a sinful way to live. I trust you know what the bible says about a man loving another man."

"Yes father, I've read that section enough." I could hear the bitterness in my voice. I decided it would be best to retreat to my bedroom. "I think I'm a little tired. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good. Maybe some sleep will get these crazy thoughts and words out of that brain of yours."

I walk out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Shutting my door with a heavy thud, I remove my clothes and dress into my night garments. I lie down on my bed, not particularly ready to fall asleep. I just needed to get away from my fathers' judgmental view. I get up from my bed and look outside at the front of our property. My thoughts were traveling around my head in all sorts of directions. It left me stranded, wondering what I was supposed to do now.


End file.
